An Egyptian TV presenter, Mohamed al-Ghiety has been sentenced to one year of hard labour for
interviewing a gay man last year.

A court in Giza also fined Mohamed al-Ghiety three thousand Egyptian pounds equivalent of one hundred and sixty-seven dollars for “promoting homosexuality” on his privately owned LTC Television channel.

The gay man, whose identity was hidden, had talked about life as a sex worker. Homosexuality is not explicitly criminalized in Egypt however, authorities have been increasingly cracking down on the LGBT community as they routinely arrest people suspected of engaging in consensual homosexual conduct on charges of “debauchery”, immorality or blasphemy.

The most recent case came about after lawyer Samir Sabry, who is well known in Egypt for taking celebrities to court, filed a lawsuit against Ghiety for his interview which took place in August 2018.

The TV host, who has voiced homophobic views on a number of occasions, spoke to a gay man who expressed regret over his sexuality and described life as a prostitute.

Egypt’s top media body, the Supreme Council for Media Regulation, immediately took the channel off air for two weeks, citing “professional violations”.

The verdict could be appealed against and suspended if Ghiety paid bail of one thousand Egyptian pounds, pending the appeal’s outcome.